


six thousand years

by two_drama_nerds_in_a_boat



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Study, Chess, Garnet is also a good mom, Gen, Introspection, Light Angst, Non-Chronological, Pearl is a good mom, Pearl is reflecting on... well..., Rose Quartz caused Big Sad, but that's okay y'know sometimes we all need surprises, everything?, i am sick rn so i'm not going to remember writing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22577056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/two_drama_nerds_in_a_boat/pseuds/two_drama_nerds_in_a_boat
Summary: a lot can happen over the span of six thousand years.pearl's thinking about all of it.
Relationships: Past Pearl/Rose Quartz | Pink Diamond (Steven Universe)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	six thousand years

**Author's Note:**

> okay so i'm tired and i have a headache and the flu so we'll see how good this actually is. 
> 
> the reason it's in non-chronological order is because i can't focus long enough to write things coherently rn.

“It’s okay,” Steven tells her. “It’s over, now.” 

“It’s been over for six thousand years,” Pearl responds. “And yet, I’m unable to get over her.” 

“We all miss mom.” 

Pearl looks over at him, and she sees he’s leaning in for a hug. 

She gives him one. 

“Yes,” she says, trying not to cry. “Yes, we do.” 

_ It just feels different, for me,  _ she thinks. 

She doesn’t say it, though. 

She knows she shouldn’t. Steven knows about her and Rose, of course. He’s fourteen, now. He’s not stupid. He’s seen the way Pearl lights up when she talks about Rose. He’s heard the conversations she’s had with Garnet, with Amethyst, even with Greg. Steven’s not stupid. He’s really quite intelligent. 

He knows that there was something going on between Rose and Pearl. How could he not? 

But Pearl doesn’t bring it up. She doesn’t say anything else. She tells herself it’s over. 

_ It’s over.  _

Maybe if she says it enough times, it’ll be true. 

* * *

Pearl hates seeing the other Pearls, the ones on Homeworld. She always has, even since she was still on Homeworld, when she was just starting to work for Pink. But it’s gotten worse, now. 

They make her feel sick. 

She tries not to think about them, or even look at them when she and Steven visit. It’s not that they’re bad, or anything. 

Well, actually, they are. 

_ But it’s not their fault.  _

And that’s what Pearl must remind herself every time she sees them. 

_ They’ve been programmed this way. It’s all they know.  _

_ Programmed to always be polite, and seen, but not heard, to look pretty but not unique, pretty but not too pretty, to be nice but not kind and helpful but nothing more. Never anything more. _

_ You could have ended up just like them.  _

That’s the part that hurts her the most, really. That last part. 

Every Pearl she meets back on Homeworld, Blue Pearl and Yellow Pearl and even poor Pink Pearl, they’re all just harsh reminders of what she could have been. 

These uniform slaves who have no free will, no free thoughts… gems who have never known things as beautiful as fusion or music or art.

Well, Pearl could have been just like them. 

Pink Diamond was the one who saved her. 

Pink, who treated her like an equal instead of an object. Pink, who snuck down to Earth one day and brought Pearl with her. 

Pink saved her. 

Pearl shudders to think of what could have happened, if things had gone just the slightest bit sideways. 

What if Pink had left her behind, instead of bringing her to Earth? 

What if Pearl had been kept on Homeworld, and then Pink still managed to disappear? 

What if Pearl had been left all alone to face the wrath of the Diamonds? 

She could have been shattered. She could have been hit by a Rejuvenator, reduced to scattered fragments of what she once was. 

Pearl shudders just thinking about it. 

But now, she’s safe. 

She’s here, in the future. 

She never thought she’d see this day. The Diamonds not only tolerate her, they treat her as an  _ equal _ . She can fuse with whoever she likes, and everyone else has that choice, too, no matter who they are. Each gem can be herself. Pearl never thought she’d see this day. She’s been fighting for this moment for six thousand years. 

Though to be fair, Pearl thought she was going to be shattered the moment she met Pink Diamond. 

She was sure she wouldn’t last a day. 

* * *

She can still remember it, to this day. She appeared from her gem and she was in a room with pink walls and pink furniture, and a pink woman, too. And then the woman introduced herself, in a sort of awkward way. She sounded like she was trying to be professional, but didn’t know how. 

“Hello,” she’d said. “I’m Pink Diamond.” 

Of course, Pearl already knew this. It had been programmed into her head before she’d even been brought into existence. 

_ Her name is Pink Diamond, and you exist to serve her. _

It was kind of a jarring first thought to have, but it was what Pearl was stuck with, so she got used to it. 

* * *

When Steven was very little, Pearl taught him how to play chess. 

He wasn’t the best at it, but he was also four, so it was impressive that he could play chess at all. Pearl remembers teaching him, still to this day. 

They were in the middle of their first real game. 

Steven was doing admirably. He’d lost a few pawns to Pearl, one of his rooks. But he’d still managed to keep most of his pieces. And now, Pearl was preparing her winning strategy. She just needed to move her queen, put it into place so that it could get through the gap in Steven’s defenses, right to his king, and put him in an unbeatable checkmate. 

Her hand hovered over the queen, but she stopped. She saw that look in Steven’s eyes, his face all scrunched up and determined. He wanted to win. He was trying so, so hard. And he was, admittedly, pretty close. 

Pearl didn’t move her queen. 

She moved a pawn instead, and Steven won the game of chess, and his grin was so large it took up his whole face. He rushed off to tell Amethyst and Garnet, and Garnet nodded at Pearl, while Amethyst just gawked at her. 

Pearl shrugged. 

She’d been playing chess for six thousand years. 

This was the first game she’d ever lost. 

It was worth it.

* * *

Pearl was elated to go to Earth with Pink.

Pink Diamond's first colony... and she would be the first Pearl to see it.

It was an honor. A feat. She was excited, though she wasn't allowed to show it. Almost as excited as Pink. And then, for the next few years, it was like a dream. First, they were packing, just little things here and there - even Diamonds had a rather minimalistic approach to life. And then before she knew it, they were soaring through the stars, past entire planets and solar systems and galaxies unlike anything Pearl had ever seen. And then, suddenly, they were on a moon. There were gems building a base. 

They were on the Moon Base.

They were orbiting Earth.

* * *

They're here, and they're in the future. But the past still haunts Pearl, just a little, just enough. 

She ignores it, mostly, because they've made it so far. Steven's grown up, now. He's grown up and made peace with the Diamonds, peace that Rose could never have made, and Pearl is so, so proud of him. And Pearl would be lying if she said she wasn't happy. But she'd also be lying if she said she wasn't sad. 

She's sad all the time, and she can't really place why. All of her friends that she once thought were lost forever are coming back. Steven seems happy. Amethyst and Garnet are happy, too.

And Pearl's happy, isn't she?

She tries to distract herself. She asks Greg to teach her how to play the ukulele. And then after she learns the ukulele, she asks him to teach her how to play the guitar. And then the bass. She learns that she's really good at picking up new instruments.

* * *

Pearl remembers starting the colony. Going down to the surface for the first time, Pink disguising herself as a Rose Quartz.

Pearl remembers seeing humans.

Pearl didn't like humans.

At all.

She hated how they dressed and how they spoke and that they ate and drank - not just out of necessity, but just for fun, sometimes. And she hated how they made so much noise, and how they always wanted to see her and Pink whenever they went out together.

Pearl didn't like that Pink wanted to so much as even look at them.

"They're organics, my Diamond," Pearl would say. "They are so, so below you. You're here to start a colony. They're going to be gone soon, anyway."

"They're just people," Pink would say in response. "And I've told you, Pearl. When we're here, it's Rose Quartz."

This was all six thousand years ago.

Pearl still thinks about it. She still sees it in her dreams.

* * *

Pearl's eyes widened. "You're _what?"_

"I'm pregnant, Pearl," Rose said. "I'm having a child."

_This isn't supposed to happen. You're my Diamond. I'm supposed to protect you from harm. I'm supposed to make sure you survive everything. I'm supposed to be the one who dies, not you. Never you. Why did you have to go off with that organic? That... human? Why?_

She didn't say any of this out loud. She only thought it. 

"You're going to die, aren't you," said Pearl, softly.

"I'm going to bring a child into the world," said Rose. "Isn't that beautiful?"

  
"What... what are you going to name it?"

Rose's eyes sparkled. "We've been thinking about 'Steven.' If it's a boy, that is."

* * *

_Her name is Pink Diamond, and you exist to serve her._

Except now she was calling herself Rose Quartz, and she was running around with humans, leading a rebellion against the Diamonds. 

And she _was_ a Diamond.

Pearl didn't understand it, but she went along with it, because she loved being free and she loved being on Earth and, above all, she loved Pink.

Pink was Rose now, though. So she guessed she loved Rose.

* * *

Her name is Pearl. 

It's been six thousand years. 

She doesn't belong to anyone. She doesn't serve anyone. _No one_ serves _anyone_ , anymore, unless they choose to be a waitress at Fish Stew Pizza.

They're here, in the future.

It's been six thousand years.

They're in the future, and Pearl feels free.

**Author's Note:**

> hey if you liked it send me chicken soup they don't have any good chicken soup where i live it all tastes like the tears of children who have been forced to take a math test at midnight.


End file.
